Singapore enters new era as founder Lee steps down

FILE - In this April 27, 2011 file photo, Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew waves to supporters as he arrives at an elections nomination center in Singapore. Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigned from the Cabinet on Saturday, May 14, 2011, ceding leadership to a younger generation after his party's worst election result since independence in 1965. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
— AP

FILE - In this April 27, 2011 file photo, Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew waves to supporters as he arrives at an elections nomination center in Singapore. Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigned from the Cabinet on Saturday, May 14, 2011, ceding leadership to a younger generation after his party's worst election result since independence in 1965. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
/ AP

"It's an epochal change," he said at a news conference to announce the new cabinet. "They have now decided that it is time for them to step down and leave it to me and my team of younger ministers."

Analysts said they will be watching closely to see if PAP leaders ease strict speech and assembly laws and work with emerging opposition figures. Opposition rallies earlier this month of more than 40,000 people were the first tangible signs of the depth of voter discontent, but such outdoor gatherings are only allowed during the official campaign period, which is usually about nine days every five years.

Some expect the government to shift from its "growth at all costs" economic model and invest more in social programs and tax relief for middle-income and poorer Singaporeans. Many say the well-educated electorate has increasingly bristled at the authoritarian aspects of the government - and particularly the elder Lee's blunt style.

"Singapore is moving toward more normal politics," said Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies. "It can't be 'sit down and shut up because you don't know what you're talking about.' Singaporeans want a strong, effective government, but they want checks and balances too."

It's not yet clear if Hsien Loong is prepared to give them that. Though he has held several senior government positions, the 59-year-old has until now toiled largely in the shadow of his legendary father in the eyes of Singaporeans and has mostly expressed a similar vision for Singapore as his dad.

Still, the elder Lee's diminished role should allow opposition parties more breathing space.

Lee has long been dead-set against allowing anything more than a token opposition in Singapore, warning factions would weaken the government, scare off investors and undermine prosperity. From the 1960s to 1980s, he imprisoned suspected communists without trial for years and later bankrupted opposition figures with defamation lawsuits.

"Why should we not demolish them (opposition parties) before they get started?" Lee asked in his 2011 book Hard Truths.

The electorate has long allowed the PAP that leeway, as it made good on delivering jobs, housing and education, made Singapore synonymous with efficient, corruption-free bureaucracy and helped boost gross domestic product per capita to $43,867 last year from $428 in 1960.

"There is a sense that Lee has achieved amazing things in Singapore," said Benjamin Reilly, a political scientist at Australian National University. "Quite possibly Singapore would not be the success it is without him, not just the PAP, but him."

But the Lees and the PAP have become victims somewhat of their own success. A wealthier and more widely traveled population of 5 million finds it harder to except Lee's argument that without PAP dominance and strict controls on freedoms, Singapore would be ruined.

The annual salaries of Lee and Goh of more than 2 million Singapore dollars ($1.6 million) also came to symbolize for poorer Singaporeans an out-of-touch government that couldn't relate to struggling with soaring housing costs and stagnant wages.

"I thank Lee Kuan Yew for his service," said Tan Hui Ching, a 42-year-old accountant. "But it's time for him to let go."